TORONTO, ON – Voting has opened for the the 2009 edition of the Golden Tap Awards, a “people’s choice” style awards event presented by The Bar Towel to honour the best in beer and brewing in Ontario.

Here is the full press release:

TORONTO, July 1 – The Bar Towel, Ontario’s Premier Beer Resource, is proud to announce the launch of voting for the 2009 Golden Tap Awards, the leading awards event recognizing the best craft beer achievements in Ontario. Now in its seventh year, the Golden Tap Awards is a democratic awards event, with all voting taking place online at www.goldentap.com until August 16th.

This year the Golden Tap Awards has undergone a significant restructuring and expansion. Awards are no longer segmented as Greater Toronto Area and outside of Ontario – all categories recognize the full province . Visitors to the web site can vote for any or all of the categories they wish, which include:

Category – Award
Breweries – Best micro or craft brewery in Ontario
Breweries – Best cask-conditioned brewery in Ontario
Bars – Best bar for draught beer selection in Ontario
Bars – Best bar for bottled beer selection in Ontario
Bars – Best bar for cask-conditioned ale in Ontario
Bars – Best brewpub or tied house in Ontario
Beers – Best regularly-produced craft beer in Ontario
Beers – Best seasonal or specialty craft beer in Ontario
Beers – Best cask-conditioned ale in Ontario

Complete nominations for each category including past winners can be found at the Golden Tap Awards official web site, www.goldentap.com.

Continuing this year will be a series of exclusive Bar Towel “Editor’s Circle” awards, to be handed out for significant special achievements in the Ontario craft beer industry. Winners from last year included Steve Peters (Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario), Cameron’s Cask Nights and St. Veronus in Peterborough.

“I’m excited about the evolution of the Golden Tap Awards this year,” says Cass Enright, founder and president of The Bar Towel. “The awards will truly recognize the best that Ontario has to offer in the craft beer scene – the best and most innovative breweries, pubs and beers.”

New this year are a series of awards to recognize achievements focusing on the brewing of cask conditioned ale and the support it has received, presented in partnership with CASK!. “Cask-conditioned ale continues to gain in popularity in Ontario, and we believe it’s important for the Golden Tap Awards to recognize those who are driving that popularity,” continued Enright.

The Golden Tap Awards party will take place on Saturday, August 29th at beerbistro, located at 18 King Street East in Toronto. At this gala event all winners will be announced at a special Ontario beer festival featuring only Ontario craft beers. There will also be a real-time Golden Tap Awards vote for the best beer available at the festival. More information on this event will be available at www.goldentap.com.

“The mission of the Golden Tap Awards is to honour the best in beer that Ontario has to offer,” Enright concluded. “And through the Golden Tap Awards gala event, it is our aim to offer Ontarians a sample of some of the great beers that we have available in our province.”

The Golden Tap Awards are presented by The Bar Towel, Ontario’s Premier Beer Resource. The Bar Towel is an online news and community web site dedicated to craft beer in Ontario. The Bar Towel can be found online at www.bartowel.com.